xv. The Life of the Sun

1. The Sun is the planet on which develops the second human condition of consciousness, that of dreamless sleep. The physical human body rises to a kind of plant existence through the incorporation of an ether body into it. 2. This development passes through seven subsidiary stages (smaller cycles or “rounds”). In the first of these cycles the stages of development of Saturn are repeated, with respect to the physical body, in a somewhat altered form. At the end of the first cycle begins the pouring out of the ether body by the “Spirits of Wisdom.” In the middle of the second cycle, the work of the “Spirits of Motion” on this body begins. In the middle of the third cycle the action of the “Spirits of Form” on the ether body has its beginning. From the middle of the fourth cycle onward, this body receives selfhood through the “Spirits of Personality.” In the meantime, the physical body has advanced so far through the action of the forces which have been working on it since earlier periods that from the fourth cycle onward the “Spirits of Fire” can elevate themselves to humanity through it. In the middle of the fifth cycle the “Spirits of Fire,” which have previously passed through the stage of humanity, take over the work on the ether body. The “Sons of Twilight” are active in the physical body at this time. Around the middle of the sixth cycle the work on the ether body is transferred to the “Sons of Twilight.” Man himself now works on the physical body. In the course of the seventh cycle the animated monad has come into existence.